Germany adds planes to Central African Rep. effort

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is offering two transport planes to a planned European Union mission to the Central African Republic, giving key airlift capabilities to the effort to stabilize the country.

The two Antonov AN-124-100 planes will help the EU mission move personnel and material quickly within the region, according to a government statement Friday.

Germany has said it won't provide combat troops, but has already offered a medical evacuation aircraft and a handful of soldiers to work at EU headquarters.

The EU has promised to send as many as 1,000 peacekeepers to aid African and French troops already on hand, and Amnesty International this week urged them to speed up the deployment to protect civilians. The long-impoverished country has fallen into chaos in the year since Muslim rebels invaded the capital.